Generous benefits. Great opportunities to learn interesting new things and do satisfying day to day work.

Cons

The company operates like it's still the early 90s. Huge reliance on paper. Old tools that go down to maintenance far too often. A lack of meaningful automation to help operators.

The worst part by far, however, is the upstairs management. At first the idea of Linear being a place where lots of family and friends work sounds great, but it's pretty clear that everyone knows each other far too well for management or HR to feel comfortable making any decisions. Arguments or HR issues will go unresolved. There is very much a culture of "deal with it" in regards to problems that arise, which only makes the work feel more and more toxic as time goes on. Employees who have been with the company long enough are essentially invincible.

Advice to ManagementAdvice

Make operators and employees who have problems feel like they've actually been listened to. It feels like there's no way to get help with a problem at Linear.

I have been working at Linear Technology full-time (more than 10 years)

Pros

Good technical peopleStock USED to be good - but not anymore.

Cons

The management STILL think they are running a startup and they are doing everyone a favor by letting them work there. The still think everyone there will get rich and work them hard.

Those same technical people are very arrogant. Coupled with a CYA environment it can be very frustrating to learn since they'll jump all over your but if you admit you don't know something.

Profit sharing has been decreasing ALOT. I remember when it went as high as 68% but now it stays in the high 30's. Not good. Especially with the lower salaries.

Old equipment. Mgmt is good at encouraging employees to save money. In the past that effort was rewarded with higher profit sharing. Nowadays, there is no incentive to slog through using old equipment and making my job tougher. Especially since I'll never benefit from my effort to save money.

Very little opportunity for advancement.

Mngment has given up ALOT of business and the company has had slow growth.

Things they say in EVERY quarterly meeting:1) Keep your nose to the grind stone!!!! -- (so mngmnt can benefit while the workers are stiffed)

2) Wall street doesn't like us but they'll soon see how good we are --- It's been over a decade and wall street hasn't noticed yet. WTF is mgmnt smoking?!?!?!

3) Let's keep costs down --- So mgmnt can benefit while they keep lowering profit sharing?

Profit sharing, good people outside most management. If you're a tech, you fare pretty well with the incentives such as floating holiday accrual, attendance bonus and sick time accrual. There is a quarterly ERT bonus paid to ERT members. Sabbatical after 5-yrs.

Cons

4 of the last 5-yrs have been with shutdowns. Shutdowns are defined as idling the plant for anywhere from 2-days to 2-weeks. It's been as frequent as 1-week a month (for an entire year) to one week+/qtr (current). You can take it unpaid, file for unemployment or burn your vacation. Many people save their semi-annual profit sharing checks to help float them through the company defined shutdowns because unemployment doesn't cut it for most folks and vacation time goes quicker than you can accrue it with the shutdowns. So, effectively, you get no profit sharing because shutdowns eat it and you can rarely take the vacation time when you want because you use most, if not all of it on the shutdowns. Little to no opportunity for advancement. HR is effectively non-existent so don't expect any support.

Advice to ManagementAdvice

There's more fat to be trimmed. Consider this before mandating more shutdowns.

I have been working at Linear Technology full-time (more than 10 years)

Pros

Profit sharing in the range of 20-30% twice per year. 6-8 week long sabbatical every five years.

Cons

No incentive for growth. There are very few management positions available, especially for women. It's basically a boy's club. The hiring structure is focused on bringing in design engineers (99.9% male). Everyone else is looked upon as catering to the design community, and as such, not valued. The structure of the company is scattered. There is no centralized IT. Each department fends for itself.

Advice to ManagementAdvice

This company has millions it could invest in its employees, yet it sits on the cash, year after year. When we ask for anything extra, like a gym, basketball courts or even a couch in the women's restroom, the answer is always 'no', in spite of the wealth of cash on hand this company has. This year, in spite of how well we're doing, our annual salary increases were decreased to 4% maximum (down from 5%). Sabbaticals every five years and the 20-30% profit sharing bonuses we receive twice yearly are not enough to address the growing morale problem that exists company wide. Management needs to loosen the purse strings, provide some incentive for advancement (especially for non-design, non-male employees) and realize that the 'supporting' departments are just as vital to the company's well-being as the design department is.

Full Profit Sharing once you achieve 2 years tenure. Respected product portfolio. Short lead times. Solid stock performance.

Cons

Arrogance of senior management. Pricing is consistently higher than competitors who are equally good at what they do.

Advice to ManagementAdvice

Undeniably profitable with no long-term vision on revenue growth. Amortize mature products and take less margin instead of constantly putting yourselves in a confrontational situation with customers who have more choices today than ever.

Compensation is among the highest in the industry. You can become very wealthy working for Linear if you have a hide thick enough to handle the abusive treatment.

Cons

Confrontational, threatening atmosphere. Management uses threats to control and "motivate" employees. Rarely any positive feedback. Seniority is sneeringly referred to as "longevity".If you are a decent Analog Designer then get in, make your money and get out as fast as possible.

Advice to ManagementAdvice

These people are so arrogant that no advice given would be heeded under any circumstances. Like the dog who barked each morning at sunrise, they remain convinced the the sun rises because of their barking. After all, the sun is coming up isn't it? You can't argue with theirsuccess.